I give thanks for abundant provision for every need of body, mind and soul. My good comes to me through all channels, some expected and some a delightful surprise. I affirm that there is plenty to share and plenty to spare.

I affirm I have a divine purpose. With faith, I surrender to Divine Love trusting that this purpose is being revealed to me now.

I open myself now to expressing a brand new magnificence!

We have been affirming this prayer for 40 days and today is the last of this series of lessons. We are• releasing anything standing in the way of our fully expressing the presence of God. • affirming our health in body, mind and soul. • opening ourselves up to the Truth that we are One with God’s abundant universe and that our good comes to us in known and unknown ways. • willing to discover or uncover our divine purpose

That’s a lot and that is one of the reasons why we give ourselves time with that Prayer. Because it’s interesting to notice what happens when we read powerful affirmative statements over and again. We will hear the ‘voice’ that does not believe a word of it.

All we need to do is state something really magnificent, like: I am one with an abundant universe – what pops up? Right…that’s why you can’t pay off your credit card, how about the holiday you want to take that never comes, what about that you don’t have time to do what you enjoy…____________fill in the blank.

This 'voice', which we may be tempted to disregard, is very, very important. It is not a bad thing – we don’t want to squelch it. We don’t want to ignore it or pretend we didn’t hear it. And particularly we don’t want to criticize ourselves for having those thoughts, “if I were more spiritual I wouldn’t be thinking like that!”

It is the ‘voice’ that reveals to us any underlying beliefs we have that are not aligned with the statements we are reading. It is telling us something about ourselves that we need to know. It is bringing to our attention the parts of us that are out of alignment – when we say one thing and really deep down inside, believe something else.

That is one of the purposes of doing this kind of 40 Day program – to listen and be alert to what comes up. Because as long as we are not aware of this interior talk, it will run us. It’s like the backseat driver – we never see them, but they are always telling us what to do or what we did wrong.

Taking this kind of prayer every day is an invitation, not only to be willing to experience more in our lives – but also to ask that back seat driver up to the front. Where we can look it right in the eye.

Let’s look at the very last statement of the Prayer: I open myself now to expressing a brand new magnificence!

And I wonder if that brought up any beliefs about what you can be. Was there a part of you that says: you know, everything is OK now, why do I have to do anything different? Why can’t I just stay the way I am?

We all probably have ways of doing things that we have outgrown and yet from habit or inattention we just kept doing them.

Perhaps you have heard about the grown grand-daughter preparing the roast for a meal and cutting off the last 4 inches. Because that is what her mother did – so that’s how she prepared the roast. When she asked her mom why – the answer was, that’s how my mother always did it. And when they finally asked grandma – she said: I had a small roasting pan so I always had to cut off the end. Fifty years of tradition – based on what? The size of a roasting pan!

We often keep doing things and we don’t know why, or they have lost their meaning or usefulness.

Imagine the canary that does not leave its cage when the door is opened. In its reality - change is worse than imprisonment.

When we change what we are doing there is always an ending. And… there is always a beginning. There are always going to be beginnings and endings. This is natural. And if we have not seen or experienced any lately – it may be because we have become too comfortable in our present circumstances.

Have you ever tried to hang on to something when it was trying to go? Or pushed away something new that was trying to come into existence? We may have experienced this - it could be anything - a friendship, an idea, a belief.

When we recognize and accept that things need to change in order to grow we can stop trying to make the world stop. We can work with the natural growth and renewal of our universe and you will find this is effortless. Trying to keep things the same is what really takes effort. Instead of trying to hold on to what is, we can cooperate with the rhythms of life and development and growth.

We often think that ‘change’ means giving something up, losing something. And that is not always the case. Change can be adding more meaning, more enjoyment, more success in your life.

• Are we willing to step out of comfort zone?• Are we willing to let something old go to make room for something new?• Are we willing to keep learning and have an inquiring mind?

The world around us is evolving and changing. The natural world is renewed and vitalized by its changing nature. When we cooperate with the natural rhythms and harmony of life, it is not work to change. It is not hard or a struggle, it is actually effortless!